Ore-feeding means for furnaces.



G. A. WILLIAMS & H. A. THAYER.

ORE FEEDING MEANS FOR FURNACES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. l2, I916.

Patented Nov. 20, 1 17.

3 SIIEETS SHEET I G. A. WILLIAMS & H. A. THAYER. ORE FEEDINGMEANS FORFURNACES.

APPLICATION map APR. 12. me.

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Patented Nov. 20, 1917.

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APPLICATION FILED APR. l2. 1M6. I, n l,24'?,@5. Patented Nov. 20, 1917.

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61cm new GLEN A. wILLIAMs AND HOMER A. TI-IAYER, or PITTSBURG, Kansas.

ORE-IFEEDIN G MEANS FOR FURNACES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Nov, 2Q, 1917,

Application filed April 12, 1916. Serial No. 90,683.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GLEN A. WILLIAMS and Henna A. Tnxrnn, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Crawford andState of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful linprovements inOre- Feeding Means for Furnaces, of which the following is aspecification.

The )resent invention relates to im )rovements in furnaces for roastingores, such for example as zinc ores, for extracting the sulfur before itgoes to the smelting furnace, while the invention is in no senserestricted to this. use, and has'particular reference to apparatus foruse with such a furnace, to feed the ores into the heating chamber ofthe furnace-or upon the bottom thereof, and to agitate, level, or worksuch ore while within the heating chamber.

An important object of the invention is to provide means of the abovementioned character, which operate wholly automatically tointermittently feed proper amounts of ore into the heating chamber ofthe furnace.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby theamounts of ore thus fed into the heating chamber may be regulated orvaried.

A further object of the invention is to provide means carried by atraveling car or carriage to agitate, level, or work the material withinthe heating chamber, such car also serving to actuate the ore feedingmeans.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and inwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thesame,

Figure 1 i a plan view of apparatus embodying the invention,

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the furnace, with parts omitted,

Fig. 3 is a similar view of a car or carriage,

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the feeding Fig. 7 is a vertical sectionalview'taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 6, and,

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 88 of Fig. 7. i

Inthe drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown apreferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 10 designates an oreroasting'furnace, the heating chamber of which is provided with a flooror bottom 11. Adjacent the floor is an opening'12, normally covered, atits forward end, by an inwardly swinging door 13. The rear end of thisopening is normally covered by an outwardly swinging door (not shown) ofsimilar construction. Arranged, forwardly andrearwardly of the furnace10 are horizontal grooved wheels or pulleys 14 mounted upon pivots 15.Either or both 0 these wheels may be driven by any suitable means,-at apredetermined speed. Trained about the grooved pulleys 1-4 is a cable'16, having a portion extending upon one side' of the furnace l0 and aportion extending through a tunnel 17, arranged beneath the bottom 11.This tunnel is provided in its top with a slot 18, leading into theopenin; 12. I

The numeral 19 designates a track, of more or less elliptical shape. Oneportion of this track extends through the tunnel 17 while its endsextend about. the wheels 14. beneath the same, as shown.

Mounted to travel upon the track 19 is a car or carriage 20, having avertical support 21 rigidly secured thereto. This sup,- port is adaptedto operate within the slot 18 and carries a lateral extension 22 forattachment to the cable 16. The numeral 28 designates a rake, comprisinga horizontal beam'24e, which is rigidly attached to the support 21. Thisbeam has sets of angular-1y arranged teeth 25 secured to the lower sidethereof, the teeth in one set extending in an opposite direction to theteeth in the other set. The rake 23 travels above the wheels 14 and isadapted to pass into the forward end of the opening 12, in proximity tothe floor or bottom thereof, and travel longitudinally through thisopening and out through the rear end thereof. The function of this rakeis to agitate, level, and work the ore rearwardlv toward the outlet endof the openings 12 from which it is discharged.

I 1 The ore i the chamber of the furnace 10, preferably 'upon the firor11 thereof, and for this, put.-

pose hoppers. 26 are provided, disposed above the furnace 10and suitablyconnected therewith. The hoppers 26 are secured to a plate 27. The plate'27 is rigidly mounted. upon the top of the furnace 10 by means ofsupports 28.

Arranged beneath the'plate 27 is a coactingplate 30, having alongitudinal recess 31', for receiving an upper reciprocatory valveplate 32. This valve plate 32- has epenings 33-, for movement into andout of registration with openings 34, formed. in the-plate; 27 and thebottom" of'the hoppers 26; Arranged a substantial distance beneath theplates 27 and is a horizontal plate 35, contacting with a plate 36,disposedtherebeneath The plate 36 has a longitudinal recess37, receivinga reciprocatory plate valve 38, having openings 39; The vpairs of plates27, 30-, and 36 are adjustably connected by vertical rods 40, passingthrough apertures therein, and having screwthreaded; portions receivingnuts 41 Rig idly mounted within. openings 42 formed in the plate 30 areupper tubes 43, the upper ends of which are adapted for registrationwith the openings 33 in the upper valve plate; The upper tubes astelescope lower tubes 44-, rigidly lliOUlliGtr in the openings 45 formedin the plate 35, and adapted for registration with. the openings 39 inthe valve-plate 38. Each pair of coacting tubes 43 and i4 constituteameasuring receptacle for the ore, before the same is dumped into theheating chamber. it is apparent that by propermanipulation oi the nutsd-l-the tube l4 may he moved upwardly or downwardly with respect to thetube 4-3, thus adjusting orchanging the volume'of themeasuringreceptacle. Extendin into openings 46 in the plate 36 are dischargeconduits 4:7, the upper ends of which are in registration with the tubes4iand therefore adapted for registration with the openings 39. Theconduits 47 discharge into the forward end of the furnace 10 to dump theore upon the bottom of the heating chamber near or at its forward end.

As more clearly shown in Fig. l, pitmen t8 and 49 are pivotallyconnected with the valve-plates and 38, as shown at 50, and these pitmenhave pivotal connection with the opposite ends of a lever 51', pivotedupon a suitably supported shaft 52. Rigidly connected with tl e lever 51is a lever 53, disposed at a right angle thereto.

Trip means, actuated by the car 20, are provided to move the lever 53,which are shown more clearly in Figs. 1 and 6. This trip means isdesignated as a whole by the numeral 54 and comprises a resetting triplever 55, pivoted at 56, to swing in asubstantially vertical plane. Thetrip lever 55 is arranged beneath thetrack 19 and its upper end extendsupwardly above the track for a. short distance, to contact, with theforward end of the car 20 and to be swung forwardly and downwardlythereby. Pivotally connected with the lower end of the trip lever 55 isa pitman 57, extending forwardly for pivotal connection,as shown at 58,with an operating trip lever 59. This operating trip lever preferablyembodies two levers which are pivoted to swing ina vertical plane upon atransverse shaft. 60.

lligidly secured; to the shaft between the levers 59 is a ratchet wheel(31', engaged by avpawl 62, prvotall'y connected with the trip lever orlevers'59; The shaft 60 hasa pinion or gear rigidly secured thereto, andengaging a;pinionor; gear ti l, which is rigidly mounted upon ahorizontal shaft 65. When the levers 59 are moved'totheend ofthedownstroke, thesameturns the larger pinion 63 1 01 one-fourth of arevolution, this larger pinion turningthe-smaller pinion 64-,- in anopposite direction for one-half of a revolution. Rigidly mounted uponthe oppoeiteend of the shaft 65, is a crank 66, which normally occupiesa vertical position, and is turned one-halt of a revolution at a time,and is thus moved from one vertical position to another.

In explaining the operation 'ofthe apparatus, it should be stated thatwhen the era-12k 66 is in the lOWQPVGI'lZlCtll position-,the lever 53 isinclined, lever 51 inclined, valve plate 32 in a position whereby itsopenings 30 are in registration withthe openings 34, so that thetubes 43and are filled, and the valve plate 38' is in a position whereby theopenings 39 are moved out of registration with the tubes at. Each timethat the lever 59 is swung from its extreme-upper position to-theextreme lower position, the crank 66 is turned for one-half of arevolution, as above stated". This movement of the crank swings thelever above thehorizontal position and subsequently returns it to thelower vertical position. This movement of the lever 53shifts the valveplate 32 so that its openings 33are moved out of registration with theopenings 34 and the openings 39 of the valve plate 38' move intoregistration with the tubes 44 T he tubes 43'and- 44 are thus dumped oremptied and when the lever 53 is returned to its lower vertical positionthe upper ends of the tubes 43 are again uncovered and the lower ends ofthe tubes 44 closed, thus allowing the tubes to refill with the ore.

At this point it might be well tostate that when the car contacts withthe trip lever 55 and moves the same downwardly, this triplever resetsthe operating trip lever 59, returning the same to the upper position,whilethe pawl 62 trips upon the teeth of the ratchet wheel 61.

When the car passes over the trip lever and contacts with the elevatedoperating trip lever 59, this trip lever 59 is moved to the loweredposition, while the pitman 57 pivotally connected therewithautomatically resets or elevates the lever 55. By this means the tripmechanism is wholly automatic and remains active permanently.

The car 20 is driven in the direction of its arrow at a suitable speed,by the rotation of the wheels 14 while the car may be pro-V pelled byany suitable means. The car travels through the tunnel 17 of thefurnace, entering the forward end and leaving the rear end. The rake 23travels with this car, in proximity to the floor or bottom 11, andserves to agitate, level, or work the ore toward the rear end of theopening 12, at which point it is discharged from the furnace. TV hen thecar 20 moves into proximity to the trip mechanism 54, its forward endcontacts with the elevated end of the trip lever 55, swinging itrearwardly and downwardly. The car then contacts with the lever 59swinging it downwardly, and elevating the trip lever 55 as aboveexplained. This downward movement of the lever 59 turns the gear 64:clockwise for one-half of a revolution. The movement of this gear istransmitted to the crank 66, which moves the lever 53. The movement ofthe lever 53 shifts the valve plates 32 and 38 to dump the tubes 43 and44, as hereinabove explained.

It is to be understood that the form of our invention herewith shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and thatvarious changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with meansfor feeding ore into a furnace, of a track arranged near the furnace, aresetting trip lever disposed near the track, an operating trip leverdisposed near the track, means connecting the levers so that theoperating trip lever is elevated when the resetting trip lever isdepressed, operating connecting means between the operating trip leverand downwardly below its pivot, an operating" trip lever pivotallyconnected with the sup port to swing in a substantially vertical plane,a pitman pivotally connected with the resetting trip lever beneath itspivot and with the operating trip lever above its pivot, a car to travelupon the track and contact with the trip levers, and means to feed oreto a furnace and having operative connection with the operating triplever.

3. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with asupport, of a track arranged near and above the support, a resettingtrip lever pivotally connected'withthe support, an operating. trip leverpivotally connected with the support, a car to travel upon the track andcontact with the trip levers, a shaft, a ratchet wheel rigidly mountedupon the shaft, a pawl connected with the operating trip lever andengaging the ratchet wheel, a. gear turned by the shaft, a second gearengaging the first named gear, a crank operated by the second namedgear, a pivoted lever having connection with the crank, and fuel feedingmeans for a furnace connected with the last named lever to be actuatedthereby.

l. In apparatus of the character described; the combination with orefeeding means; of a re-setting trip lever; an operating trip leverdisposed near the resetting trip lever, means connecting the trip leversso that the operating trip lever is elevated when the re-setting triplever is depressed; a traveling member to contact with the trip leversto operate them; and connecting means between the operating trip leverand the ore feeding means.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in the presence of twowitnesses.

GLEN A. \VILLIAMS. HOMER A. THAYER.

Witnesses:

R. PAUL LEI-IMANN, C. W. EYEs'roNE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each. by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 0,"

